Slide-A-Round Math Manipulatives

I am going to meet with Ettor Strada, Special Education Director, at the Arizona Academy of Math and Science in Tucson at 9:00. Even though it the middle of summer for students, administrators know that school will be here before we know it!

At 10:00, I am going to meet with the staff at Tuscon Unified School District’s Wakefield Parent Center. The purpose of my meeting is to provide additional resources for parents to use with their children during the 2016-17 school year.

I appreciated the opportunity to share my low vision and braille manipulatives at the University of Arizona’s Department of Disability and Psycheducational Studies in Tucson, AZ on June 20th.

Dr. Penny Rosenblum invited me to demonstrate my teaching strategies to her graduate students who serve VI students in many parts of Arizona. They were very receptive and willing to ask questions during and after my demonstration.

I received an update from Emmy Marchioni, FLAEYC Administrative Coordinator, that my article will be published in July. The article goes in-depth about how all students can learn their fractions’ standards with my manipulatives. My manipulatives serve as a bridge from visual to abstract concepts.

I am going to do demonstrations at the 2016 FLAEYC Conference in Orlando, FL on September 24-25. This will be my first conference in Florida. I am looking forward to meeting and sharing my teaching strategies with many Florida educators and administrators in a few months!

I contacted Tamara Bishop- Amavilah, President of the Arizona Association for the Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired, about sharing my teaching strategies in Arizona during the week of June 20-24. She offered to share my information with her colleagues on Arizona’s list serv. Ms. Amavila- Bishop also mentioned her organization is going to have a spring conference in Tucson, AZ. Stay tuned for additional information once it becomes available.

When I shared my teaching strategies at the 2016 Association for the Supervisors of Curriculum Development Conference on April 2-3, I met Vera Hendrix, Vice President of Instructional Programs, at the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind. Ms. Hendrix invited me to do a training for her teachers at AISD in Talladega, Alabama on June 13th. It is important to note that I am also doing a state-wide training on July 22nd at AISD’s Summer Workshop.

Jamie Hall, West Virginia Instructional Resource Center’s Technical Specialist, and I have discussed my math manipulatives several times over the past 4-5 months. Ms. Hall requested information and images of my math manipulatives so that she could share with her West Virginia colleagues in WV IRC’s upcoming Spring newsletter. Due to the time and distance, I really appreciate Ms. Hall’s help!

I met Cecilia Robinson, Vision Specialist at the Region 4 Education Service Center in Houston, Texas, in June 2012 at the 2012 Texas Assistive Technology Network Conference. Over the past few years, Ms. Robinson and I have been corresponding back and forth and sharing information.

We were finally able to find a date for me to share my teaching strategies with her colleagues on December 2nd in Houston. I will be conducting a demonstration/ training with TVI in Region 4 at 1:00- 4:00. Ms. Robinson is also going to invite math specialists because my manipulatives are available for all students.

I want to thank Rudy Neufeld for allowing me to share his booth at ASCD in Atlanta on April 2-3. The conference was amazing! I had the opportunity to share my teaching strategies with educators and administrators from all over the US, Canada, Iceland, Hong Kong, France, Brazil, Jamaica, and Mexico. This was truly an international conference. Please follow my “Latest News” for updates regarding demonstrations and trainings that will follow in the next 2-3 months.

I visited several Mobile County Schools today. I was very impressed by the willingness of several administrators and teachers to take time from their busy schedules to see new math strategies. Ms. Dickson, Principal at Castlen Elementary, Sonya Floyd, Principal at E.S. Chastang Middle School, and several teachers at Dawes 3-5 Intermediate School were very receptive to my teaching strategies and wanted to share with their staff.

Administrators at Griggs Elementary, Austin Elementary, Brazier Elementary, Breitling Elementary, and Hutchens Elementary were unable to meet with me because they had meetings. However, I was able to leave information for them to share with their teachers.

I have accepted an invitation from Susie Thomas, Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind, to do a demonstration at AIDB’s summer workshop in Talladega, AL on July 22nd. All TVI in Alabama are invited to this state-wide workshop. I hope to see you this summer!